The House of Representatives on Thursday unanimously resolved to invite President Muhammadu Buhari to address the nation on measures taken to tackle rising cases of killings, banditry, armed robbery, and kidnappings.
The resolution followed a motion on the urgent “Need for Federal Government’s Intervention on the Ongoing Wanton Killing of Innocent Persons, Destruction of Property, Armed Robbery, and Kidnappings by Heavily Armed Bandits Operating Within Safana/Batsari/Dansamu Federal Constituency”.
According to NAN, Ahmed Dayyabu-Safana (APC-Katsina) who move the motion at plenary said that some villages within his constituency had been serially attacked, with many people killed by armed bandits. He called on the President to urgently declare a state of emergency in his federal constituency to arrest the situation.
“The recent spate of the said attacks on members of my constituency has reached an alarming stage as the perpetrators of this act continuously kill innocent persons in my constituency. They set their homes ablaze while defenseless men and women are abducted to an unknown destination.
“Up to four villages within my constituency are currently under attack in the last 48 hours. The villages are Massa in Batasari Local Government Area, where no fewer than five persons have been killed, Alhazawa in Safana LGA has been totally displaced. Guzurawa village in Safana LGA also has several persons murdered in cold blood.
“And just yesterday, Gobirawa Village came under attack with no fewer than 12 dead bodies littered in the bush while many are still missing. These killings have continued unabated and these bandits seem to be unstoppable with a specific instance at Gobirawa Village in Safana LGA.
“The bereaved villagers there are forced to abandon the corpses during the burial and scamper for safety when they sighted the bandits coming back to launch another offensive,”
After contributions from other House Members, the Speaker of the House, Yakubu Dogara said it was necessary to invite the President for an address since the issue of banditry had become national.
The motion was unanimously adopted by members when it was put to a voice vote by the Speaker.
The House called on the Federal Government to deploy the military to the areas under attack to assist the police and other security agencies in flushing out the criminal elements operating in the constituency.